Valve control means in railway car dumping systems



E. O. LUNDE May 15, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 14, 1952 fi W WW wwm 6 m mv m w May 15, 1956 E. o. LUNDE 2,745,361

VALVE CONTROL MEANS IN RAILWAY CAR DUMPING SYSTEMS Filed April 14, 19525 Sheets-Sheet 5 filial/7e E. O. LUNDE VALVE CONTROL MEANS IN RAILWAYCAR DUMPING SYSTEMS Filed April 14, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 [27 e ejzfw'.27740" 0 [0/7676 May 15, 1956 E. o. LUNDE 2,745,361

VALVE CONTROL MEANS IN RAILWAY CAR DUMPING SYSTEMS Filed April 14'. 19525 Sheets-Sheet 5 [/2 W612 for 1 2220; 0 Z 2/1703? Unite Stts PatentVALVE CONTRQL MEANS 1N RAILWAY CAR DUB PING SYSTEMS Claims. (Cl. 105311)This invention relates to valve control means in railway car dumpingsystems.

The invention is more particularly concerned with railway car dumpingsystems of the nature disclosed in my copending application Serial No.77,655, filed February 21, 1949, now Patent No. 2,647,471, issued August44, 1953, wherein a directional valve is utilized to admit air toselected dumping cylinders at opposite sides of a car for the dumpingthereof in a direction away fromrthe cylinder to which air has beenadmitted, together with a dump valve which when opened admits air to anoperating line which in turn is connected to an automatic valve and theautomatic valve when energized functions to admit air to the directionalvalve.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide directional anddump valve operating means which includes a single control rod extendingbeneath a dump cartransversely thereof and with the opposite ends of therod being accessible at each of the opposite sides of the car. 7

A further object of the invention is to provide directional valve anddump valve operating mews including a single control rod which issupported transversely beneath 'a dump car for both axial and rotarymove ment, together with an operating rod extending longitudinally ofthe car and having axial movement only, the control rod upon axialmovement thereof imparting axial movement to the operating rod which isconnected to the directional valve, and the control rod upon rotationthereof imparting operation to the dump valve.

A further object of the invention is to provide safety means wherebywhen the control rod has been moved axially from one side of the carwith a resulting opening of the directional valve said rod is lockedagainst rotation and which can be overcome from the operated end of therod only, thereby avoiding possible dumping of the car on an operatorwho has moved the rod axially preparatory to rotation thereof fordumping the car in a direction away from him.

' A still further object of the invention is to provide means forlocking the operating rod against movement when the car is in dumpingoperation.

- A still further object of the invention is to provide operating rodpositioning means eilective to establish full throw of the directionalvalve.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent inthe course of the following detailed description, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a transversesectional View through an end platform of a dumping car showing thecontrol rod and the dump valve.

Figure 2 is a broken top plan view of a dump car showing the control andoperating rods together with the directional and dump valves and alsothe operating rod positioning and locking means.

1, Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the platform 2,745,361Patented May 15, 1956 shown in Figure 1 together with the adjacent endof the control rod and the operative connection between same and thedump valve.

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view in the plane of line44 on Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a broken enlarged elevational view corresponding to Fig. 1but showing the control rod as having been axially moved to the right.

Figure 6 is an enlarged plan view as observed in the plane of lines 6-6on Figure 3.

Figure 7 is a top plan view of the operating rod positioning mechanism.

Figure 8 is a central vertical longitudinal sectional View of theoperating rod positioning mechanism.

Figure 9 is a view of the operating rod positioning mechanism partiallyintransverse section and partially in elevation.

Figure 10 is a top plan view of the operating rod locking mechanism.

Figure 11 is a side elevational view of the operating 7 rod lockingmechanism.

Figure 12 is a transverse sectional View in the plane of line 1212 onFigure 11.

Figure 13 is a transverse sectional view in the plane of line 1313 onFigure 11.

Figure 14 is a substantially enlarged view of one end of the controlrod, the view being partially in elevation and partially in section.

' Figure 15 is a sectional view in the plane of line line 1515 on Figure14, the latch being shown in elevation.

Figure 16 is a fragmental plan view as observed from the bottom ofFigure 14.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings, and first toFigures 1 to 6, only so much of the dump car body is shown as isnecessary to illustrate the connection of the present inventiontherewith and which comprises the longitudinally extending center sillsS on which is supported an end platform P. A pair of laterally alignedguides 10 depend from the platform P and as is more clearly shown inFigure 5 each includes an L-bracket 11 whose horizontal flange isrigidly secured to the under face of the platform P and to whosevertical leg is rigidly secured the vertical leg of a second oppositelyfacing L-bracket 12 through whose horizontal leg extend the threadedends of a U-bolt 13. A block 14 is disposed beneath the last namedhorizontal leg and whose lower face together with the bight of theU-shaped bolt provide a circular rod receiving opening and nuts 15 areapplied to the free ends of the U-bolt for aifecting adjustment of therod receiving opening in the guide.

A control rod'16 is supported in the guides 10 for combined axial androtary movement and the rod is provided with terminal operating handles17 and 17a which aredisposed at opposite sides of the car body Withineasy reach of an operator.

Guide plates 18 and 18a depend from the platform and through which thehandles 17, 17a extend.

Circular flanges 19 and 19a are integral with' rod 16 in axially spacedrelation.

A bracket 20 is secured to a sill S and projects'laterally outwardlytherefrom. Pivotally secured to the outer end of this bracket as at 21is a bellcrank 22, one arm 23 of which extends toward rod 16 and whichis bifurcated in the provision of furcations 24 having trunnions 25which are disposed between the flanges 19, 19a.

The other arm 26 of the bellcrank 22 is pivotally cone nected at 27 toan operating rod 28. The operating rod V be hereinafter descflbed' 28extends"longitudifially to, a rod positioning mecha-' T nisrn 29 fromwhich a rod 30 continues along the car sill through a rod lockingmechanism 31 and thence connecting with the operating 'bar. 32 of thedirectional v'alve 33 is actuated through axial movement of the'cdfltrol rod 16:while the dump valve 35 is actuated through rotarymovement thereof.

' 'At this point it is tobe particularly observed that the structure isshown in Figures 1 to 6 in the positions assinned when the directionalvalve 33 and the dum vaivess areinneut'ral position, or ina positionwhich all valves are seated thereby totally restricting the flow of airthrough the valves. p

As will hereinafter more clearly appear, when the operating'mechanism isin neutral -position,.the control rod 16 cannot be rotated due to arestriction between. the

foclha tidles 17,-17a and the guide plates. 18, 18; In this positiononly axialmovement of rod 16 is possible afid this is limitediin' extentas governed by the throw of the valves in the directionalvalves'trilcture, p

K In the course of a car dumping operation, assuming the p 7 operatortobe positioned at the operating handle, 17, the handle is pulled axiallyto' th'e' position 17b (Fig. 1).

This operation will position the directional valve 33 such that'aircanflow through same to the dump cylinder. on

V the same side of the car as the operator is stationed;

However, the air supply to the directional valve is com trolled by anautomatic valve which in turn is controlled bythe dump valve in themanner disclosed the copending application above referred to and whereinthe manual control valve 20 corresponds'to the present dump ve a V Thedump valve 35 when opened, willadmit air to an operating line which is"connected to the automatic valve in the manner disclosed in saidcopending application. The automatic valve, when so energized, will tunetion to admit air to the directional valve and thus to the proper dumpcylinders. Upon setting the directional va'lve' as above described, theyokes 34, 34:: will freel'y slide; along the-bar36and the yoke 34:: willassume a position adjacent the valve bar3-7 with yoke 34 beingpositioned adjacent an end of the bar 36.

. This action will also position the operating hamlets-1Q flafinathepositions shown in'rFig. 5 wherein'only' the latchl38 onihandle L7 is inengagement with the guide pIateYIS thereby preventing rotation of theoperating rod 16. If, however, latch '38 be pulled to the position 385,the controlr od 16 may then be rotatedlso asto actuate the-dumpvalve35;V

Upomrotation of the operating rod 16 in the proper direction, the yokes34 and 34a will engage the bar36 andthus act upon valve bar 37 so as toopen the valve 7 After the car has been returned to a normal positionthe control rod 16 is rotated to the neutral position of the dump valve35, when the yokes 34, 34a will be posi- H tioned as indicated at 34 inFig. 4. With the control rod thus positioned the. latch 38 will againassume a position of engagement with the guide plate 18 as shown in Fig.6.

5 At this point it is to be noted that the guide plates18,

18a are each provided with avertical slot 42 and angular guide flanges43 project inwardly from this plate at opposite edgesof the slot. 7

It should be pointed out that the valve spring oiigthe exhaust valve 40may have sulficient energy to auto matically return the operatinghandle'to. a position wherein the latch38 will assumeits position ofengagement with the guide plate 18. r

This action will take place as soon as the air has been 7 exhausted fromthe operatingline and the pressure in. the

. the rod. This safety featuremakes' it impossible for an 7 7 chambersurrounding valve has. been reduced toiap proximatelyatmosphericpressure... v The operating mechanism includes a safetyfeature which is described as follows:

As' previously stated, an operator stationed adjacent handle 17 willpullsametoward him in order to roperly set the directional valve 33 so as todump the car away from him. The rod will then assume the position asshown in Fig. 5.

From this view, it will be apparent that the control" 7 rod 16 cannot berotated .by. handle 17a for the reason 7, that the latch 38 associatedwith handle 17 is engaged.

with the guide plate 18 therebypreventing rotation of operator to dumpthe carrtoward himselfr The operating rod positioning mechanism 29 isillii'strated in detail in Figures 7, 8 and 9 and same cont prises arectangular frame including side members i i 46 and end members 47 towhichi'rod s 28 and .30 are 39 and thus admit air to. the automaticvalve; This will permit th'eflow of air as previously'described to enterthe dump cylinders on the sameside of the car on which 7 the operatorisstationed and thus dump thecar in a direction away from him.Iriietufhin'g the c'arto'anormal position after'dumping, the control rod16 is rotated in the opposite direction whereby the yok s 34,34; willagain engage the bar 36' and the 'v'alve bar 37 in such manner thatthev'alve39 will first be; closed and valve 40' theniopened'whic n'wni exhustme in the oper-- r atiiig line and the automatiovaive to theatmosphere by nit-tangerine exhaust-port 41 (Fig. 4

adjustably connected through threaded terminals 48.;

The frame 45 is removably'dis'posed within ahousing including oppositeside walls 49 and a top cam wall 50.- The frame 45 is connected to thehousing solelyby means; of a member 51 including head members 52a nd 53re spectively pivotally connectedto thehousing side walls I 49 and theframe side 'Walls 46 as at 54 and 55 respe tively; The members 52 and 53are axially movableand a compression spring 56 surrounds same and tendsto rge them apart. As shown in Fig. 8 the mechanism is" in position fora neutral settingof theidirectionalvalve 33" 'with the rounded headmember 53 yieldably engaged within the hollow portion 56 of the cam wall'50.;

When the operating rod 28 is moved to either extreme position toopen'and. close the valves of the directional valve the head 53 assumesthe .dot-and-dashline posi- .tions' on the, outwardly directed camportion 57 ot the cam wall and the compression spring 56will'thus aidmaintaining the valve in its open orclosed position.

The rod locking mechanism 31 is illustrated in detail 7 in Figs; 10 to13 and same includes a U-frame 60 de pending from a car sill' S-andbeneath thetba seol of: which the operating rod 30 is axially movablypositioned by means of a suitable guidememb'er 62.

V Rigidly supported on the base 61 of frame :0 is an 7 elongated plate63 which at one end is provided with a.

notch 64. A U-shapedrod 65 includes. a shorter-leg 66 extending throughthe notch 64 and a longer' leg 67jex tending through an opening 68 inplate 63 adjacent its opposite end.

, The bight portion 69 of the rod extends beneath the rod 30 and. a coilspring 70 is disposed between the plate .63 and a Washer plate 71adjacent thefreeiendof the longer leg .67 and a nut 72'engages thethreadetl'free end of such leg in bearing engagement with the" washerplate 71. A'spacer block'73 is disposedwithirtthespring 70 and isprovided with a central aperture 74 through which the leg 67 extends.

The operating rod 30 is provided with a pair of axially spaced stop lugs75 which in neutral position of the direcn'onal valve are disposed atopposite sides of the U-shaped rod 65.

When the car is in neutral position the free end of the longer leg 67 ofthe U-shaped rod is engaged by the sill S of the car, but when the caris being dumped, the sill is laterally displaced and frees the rod foroutward movement under the action of spring 70 with the result that thebight 69 of the rod engages the operating rod 30 after both lugs 75 havebeen moved to either side of the bight 69 in the directional valveoperating axial movement of the rod 30. Consequently the U-shaped rod 65will prevent movement of the operating rod 30 until the car body hasbeen moved back to normal position with the rod 65 depressed as in Fig.12.

Figures l4, l and 16 which are on a substantially enlarged scale showthe preferred control rod, operating handle and latch construction.

As indicated, the handle 17 (as Well as handle 17a) is of tubular formwith the inner end thereof having a restricted bore 80 communicatingwith the larger bore 81 and defining therewith a shoulder 82. Theadjacent end of the control rod 16 is disposed within the bore 80 andterminates at the shoulder 82 and a pair of bolts 83 extend through thehandle 17 and the control rod 16 and rigidly secure same together. Thehandle 17 is provided with a recess 84 intermediate its ends and opensthrough the bottom thereof between a pair of parallel flanges 85.

A plunger 36 is disposed within the handle bore 81 in spaced relation tothe shoulder 82 and adjacent end of control rod 16 and a coil spring 87is disposed between V the plunger and the shoulder and adjacent end ofthe control rod and which spring tends to urge the plunger into therecess 84.

The latch 38 is disposed between the flanges 85 and is pivotallyconnected thereto as at 38'. The latch is provided with a convex head 38in engagement with the adjacent end of the plunger 86 whereby the spring87 tends to urge the latch 38 to the dot-and-dash line position wherebythe control rod 16 is precluded against rotation.

The plate 18 is preferably provided with a dump valve positionindicating did 88 and the handle 17 is provided with a pointer 89whereby upon rotation of the handle the position of the dump valve isvisibly indicated.

The handle 38 shown in dot-and-dash lines to the extreme left in Fig. 14is the position assumed when the handle 17a at the opposite side of thecar is operated.

While I have disclosed my invention in accordance with a single specificstructural embodiment thereof,

' such is to be considered as illustrative only, and not restrictive,the scope of the invention being defined in the subjoined claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by U. S. Letters Patent is:

1. Means for controlling a directional valve and a tem, comprising anelongated control rod extending transversely beneath the car andsupported thereon for axial and rotary movement, means operable uponaxial movement of the control rod for operating the directional valve,means operative upon rotation of the control rod for operating the dumpvalve, said first means comprising an operating rod extendinglongitudinally of the car and supported thereby for axial movement, apair of axially spaced stop lugs projecting laterally from saidoperating rod, and means supported by the car and cooperating with saidlugs for locking the rod against valve actuating movement when the caris undergoing a dumping operation.

' 2. Means for controlling a directional valve and a I dump valve insuccession in a railway car dumping system, comprising an elongatedcontrol rod extending transversely beneath the car and supported thereonfor axial and rotary movement, means operable upon axial movement of thecontrol rod for operating the directional valve, and means operativeupon rotation of the control rod for operating the dump valve, said lastmeans comprising a pair of axially spaced yokes extending radially ofthe control rod, and an operating arm carried by the dump valve parallelwith the control rod and slidably engaged within said yokes.

3. In a railway car dumping system, a directional valve for admittingair to dump operating cylinder at one or the other side of the car, anda dump valve for controlling the flow of air to the directional valve, acontrol rod extending transversely of the car beneath same and supportedfor both axial and rotary movement, an operating rod extendinglongitudinally of the car beneath same and mounted thereon for axialmovement, a bell crank construction between said control rod and one endof said operating rod for imparting axial movement to the latter uponaxial movement of the former, an operative connection between theopposite end of said operating rod and said directional valve, andcooperating means between said control rod and said dump valve foroperation of the valve upon rotation of the control rod, said controlrod being provided with a cylindrical handle at each end thereof, saidhandles extending through notched plates depending from the car andlatches carried by the handles yieldably engaged within the notches inthe plates when the operating rod is moved laterally outwardly by one orthe other of said handles to prevent rotation of the rod until thelatches are manually released.

4. In a railway car dumping system, a directional valve for admittingair to dump operating cylinders at one or the other side of the car, anda dump valve for controlling the flow of air to the directional valve, acontrol rod extending transversely of the car beneath same and supportedfor both axial and rotary movement, an operating rod extendinglongitudinally of the car beneath same and mounted thereon for axialmovement, a pair of axially spaced stop lugs projecting laterally fromsaid operating rod, a bell crank construction between said control rodand one end of said operating rod for imparting axial movement to thelatter upon axial move and said dump valve for operation of the valveupon rotation of the control rod, and means supported by the car andcooperating with said lugs for locking the operating rod against valveoperating movement when the car is undergoing a dumping operation.

5. In a railway car dumping system, a directional valve for admittingair to dump operating cylinders at one or the other side of thecar, anda dump valve for controlling the flow of air to the directional valve, acontrol rod extending transversely of the car beneath same and supported for both axial and rotary movement, an operating rod extendinglongitudinally of the car beneath same and mounted thereon for axialmovement, a bell crank construction between said control rod and one endof said operating rod for imparting axial movement to the latter uponaxial movement of the former, an operative connection between theopposite end of said operating rod and said directional valve, andcooperating means between said control rod and said dump valve foroperation of the valve upon rotation of the control rod, saidcooperating means between the control rod and the dump valve comprisinga pair of yokes extending radially of thel control rod and an. elongatedvalve operating har 're eived in said yokes.

l lefgence s' Cit d in the file of this patefit 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS7 1,455,318" Woodhead M53 15, 1923 gnaw:

